Planting vrs combineing

DeltaRed · Feb 5, 2015

We hear often the question if you can successfully combine a different number of rows from what were planted.Yes,no problem.I for years combined 3 rows,planted 4. Then I planted 6,still did 3.There was a bit of improvement--if I maintained correct row count.Other wise it was no different than the 'old way'.Now I'm planting 6,combineing 4.Back where I started....So unless I have REAL bad guess row,there are no issues.This year I'm thinking of going back to 4 row.Back to 'matching' again. But,does it really matter?

Mike Aylward · Feb 5, 2015

Steve, I used to plant/harvest in that same configuration. It is not a big deal. If you are in a place where the rows are too far apart you can always back up and hit it in two passes. (Too close is not a big deal.) If you plant with only four rows you are losing a LOT of time in a critical season. Go ahead and plant six and do a good job of planting (it will make you better) and you should have very few problems. As long as the corn is standing you can vary a little and still be ok. If you drop two rows from your planter you will lose much more if you fail to get that last field planted in a timely manner. Mike

ihcowner · Feb 5, 2015

We have been planting with 12 rows and combining with 8 for 10 years. Sometimes on the end rows we get some narrow or wide spots that we just take 6 rows at a time, but other that that it works fine.

JMS/.MN · Feb 5, 2015

And here I thought you"d ask, "which do you like best"? Optimism of Spring, or satisfaction/hope of harvest.....

Bob Bancroft · Feb 5, 2015

I used to plant 4, and harvest 3. Now I plant 6 and harvest 6. I would be hard pressed to go backwards on any of it. I don't do much more, but I do it in less time. There's this aging factor, which is affecting most of us! I noticed this past year how at the end of a long day, my rows weren't as straight as usual!

paul · Feb 5, 2015

It shows up on rolling hills and on curved fields.

On a fairly flat field straight rows not much of a deal.

Modern GPS stuff makes it work real well of course.

A careful planter guy can make it work out pretty good.

I find it difficult to combine rows spaced too wide on the guess row, so the few times I've been off rows I try to crowd the guess row a bit while planting.

Paul

BANDITFARMER · Feb 5, 2015

I would stick with the 6 row, Make 2 rounds with the 6 row = 24 rows. Do 2 rounds with a 4 row = 16 rows. With the 6 row you can slow down a little do a better job and still get done quicker than the 4 row humping it to do the same amount of ground. You just need to pay more attention to the row marker to make good strait rows. For me I had an 8 row 30" planter so It was a no brainer to cut it down to an 8x20" to match my 8x20" corn head (sure made it easer to move it on the road!). I have shelled a lot of corn with a 3 row narrow planted with a 4 row and about the same shelling 4 rows planted with a 6 row. Its not bad just have to watch it a little closer. Bandit

rustyacres sd · Feb 5, 2015

Plant six, combine 3

elevatorman724 · Feb 5, 2015

id stick with six rows to save time planting

stonerock · Feb 5, 2015

plant 12......harvest 6..... all you do is weight on trucks

Dave H (MI) · Feb 5, 2015

None of my fields have straight edges, so the headland was a chore on my "combining adventure" this year. Once I got the curves and jutting tree lines taken care of I had little trouble with the center of the field. I just followed the marker line when I planted and I am not a novice at using a tractor. Seemed to be OK there but I lost a lot trying to figure out how to follow the contours on the headlands combining six of eight planted rows. Seemed like every time there was a curve the end row was either too wide or too narrow, if that makes sense.

fixerupper · Feb 5, 2015

Anyone can harvest a different number of rows than the planter planted, but we have to figure how much ear loss is considered acceptable. Get out of the combine and walk the rows that are between planter swaths. You might be unpleasantly surprised. Maybe not. Today's BT corn hangs onto it's ears better so those odd rows that are wider or narrower than the corn head configuration don't fling the ears off as easily today. I used to plant six and harvest eight but it was before our modern hybrids and I would end up with some ears on the ground in the places where I didn't plant straight.

DeltaRed · Feb 5, 2015

I'm a pretty straight planter.This question was mainly for disscussion,nothing more.I am thinking of going back to 4 is not because of matching the combine.Rather 4 rows simply irrigates better.I irrigate in water furrows(not 'flood' or center pivot),remember?My fields are mainly flat with straight rows.With 4 row,every other row is packed,makes water flow better,Especially in my soil.Some guys 'drive' the field to pack the rows.That is just another trip.That just doesnt work for me.

Bob Bancroft · Feb 6, 2015

The idea of ground so dry and loose that it helps to pack it is amazing!
Narrow front tractor, and spaced duals, with four row planter, and all the ground between rows will be packed!

DeltaRed · Feb 6, 2015

We have all kinds of tricks to get water to run.....Very few single fronts here anymore.The wide spaced duals are common,but there is still the uneven row pattern with 6 or 8 rows.Years ago when I started 'over',I hired a man to plant. He used 8 row,I cultivated 4. That worked.There are guys here who say I still farm in the 60s.They are probably right........<):^p

Kell · Feb 6, 2015

Even on flat ground, I think you are nuts for running a corn header that doesn't divide your planted rows evenly. IMO, there's no logical reason for it. BTW, have you seen the corn head that lets you run corn cross-row???

ss55 · Feb 6, 2015

Mis-matching row count mattered even more when we still used cultivators for weed control.

IowaJohn · Feb 6, 2015

It helps to be matched both number of rows i.e. 6 row planter with 6 row cornhead and row spacing if you have to deal with leaning or down corn. Although in your case you could take the rows that match and combine the odd 2 the next pass.

DeltaRed · Feb 6, 2015

Yep.Saw a 20" head that would go cross grain.Then
you have the Kemper silage heads.

1206SWMO · Feb 7, 2015

I always planted 6 rows and harvested 4....I had no problems as I tried to do a good job of driving when planting.

coonie minnie · Feb 7, 2015

Delta, the pics I've seen of your land make using different sized heads and planters do-able. If you lived in the world of hillsides and contour strips, the only option is equal width of the planter, or planter evenly divided by the harvester.... i.e. a 6 row planter can utilze 2,3 or 6 row headers.

Count your blessings!

Super Steve · Feb 7, 2015

I plant with a 4 row, and my combine is a 4 row, but depending on the field im in, I cant always make a full 8 row round or park wagons at either end so sometimes I will take 4 down 3 back or 3 each way. Just take my time planting and its not a problem. Also if the ears are high enough on the stalk, it will pull into the head just fine.

tim(in) · Feb 8, 2015

When i first started farming i planted 2 rows then picked one. Then when i tried to be BTO i went 4 rows then picked one,then picked two . worked out alright either way.Only thing that matters is !. Do you make money? 2. Did the animals that ate it or the elevator that bought it care about the way you planted or harvested your crop? Until i went to grinding my feed the hogs Liked that corn just fine. They gained and made me money for years . never once did they ask h0ow i grew it or was the equipment fancy enough to suit them!. Just the magazines and salesman are the only ones that cared and they dont matter!

Planting vrs combineing

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